Gray Area
by InkFingerTips6
Summary: Angels are pure and white, Demons are evil and black, Reapers are somewhere in between. At the murder of Lady Red, another Reaper appears, a woman named Annalise- How will her appearance affect the other characters, especially Sebastian?
1. Chapter 1

The Reaper Annalise jumped silently from rooftop to rooftop in London, a parchment colored cloak covered her tall, willowy form as she stopped before a two story home along the River Thames. She pulled the scroll tied with a red ribbon from within her cloak and checked the name written in her spidery hand writing. _James Lightwood. _

The man was laying in his bed asleep, his breathing already shallow beneath the quilt. She phased through the window and stood before his form. Withdrawing her rapier from the sheath at her hip and with the grace of a dancer shoved it through the man's heart. The man remained asleep as she watched the reels of his life surround her.

The film of the man's life was a happy one. He started out as an apprentice of a blacksmith and fell in love with a lady above his stature, and every time he saw her his heart would flutter. He worked his way up to be a master blacksmith and finally caught her eye when he displayed a beautifully crafted gold bracelet inlaid with stones that matched the woman's eyes. The woman had stopped to admire the trinket and he said that one thing that made her notice him- _If I may be so bold my lady, the stones match your eyes perfectly. Like a spring meadow at it__'__s peak, the green that you only see for a few weeks once a year._ She had fallen in love with him. The two were married shortly after. At first their life was a bit of a challenge, saving up money so that they could buy their own home, luckily she had a rather large dowery that allowed them to buy and pay off a house within a few years. He moved from making the items of a blacksmith to those of a jeweler and a glass blower, brining in a steady income for her and their four children. He was generous man who was willing to have his items bought on credit, paid for slowly by the men who were desperately in love like him but unable to afford such finery anywhere else. His children had children, he and his wife allowed them to marry for love as they had. His wife died a few years before he did, but they both didn't mourn instead promised to meet the other in the next life. Both of Irish backgrounds believed death to be a celebration of life not a mourning.

Annalise smiled slightly to herself as she watched the love story and happy ending of the man. She removed her sword and watched as the man's soul slowly left his body and he paused looking at her. "If I had known such a pretty girl would come take me away, I would have made sure to look my best" he joked with her. The man was a flirt but his heart belong to one woman. It had been obvious by the way he had looked at her throughout the film.

"You have lived a happy, kind and wonderful life, James Lightwood. Your wife is waiting for you on the banks of the river. Go to her and ascend into heaven" she said to him with a smile and a slight blush on her cheeks.

The man nodded and bowed to her before his soul seemed to vanish.

Annalise stood in the bedroom for a moment more before she felt the pull of a soul. She yanked out her scroll and looked at the name that appeared in red. _Angelina Dalles_. She quickly sheathed her saber and jumped through the window racing across the rooftops.

She arrived on the scene to find the Reaper Grell step out of an abandoned warehouse. He was talking to a man, a demon from the looks of him and a young boy. The boy was Ciel Phantomhive, who at the tender age of eleven sold his soul to that of a Demon. Everyone in the Reaper Society knew that, it was rare for one so young to willingly make a deal with a demon, especially one of this particular demon's caliber. She assumed that the handsome man standing next to him was that demon.

She paused standing on top of a chimney watching the interaction that occurred below.

Grell was disguised as a butler but quickly the disguise vanished to reveal long red hair, green eyes covered by glasses of the latest fashion and his shark-like teeth, the trait that marked him as a reaper. She blinked her own cat eyes, greenish yellow with slit pupils. The trait that marked her as a reaper. She had considered herself lucky to only have a mark like that, instead of strangely colored skin or claws for hands. Her train of thought was quickly broken when a woman with red hair, dressed solely in red stepped out of the building. She heard the sounds of them speaking how she detested the prostitutes for having abortions and in the woman's eyes killing the unborn children that she could never bear.

The woman drew a dagger, intent on killing the young boy, her own nephew. Annalise didn't move, she knew that the woman would not kill her nephew, he looked too much like her dead sister. Her cat eyes took in the interaction between the aunt and her nephew calmly, however it was the one between the demon and Grell that had her a bit on edge. This particular demon was known for his power, but from what Annalise could tell, it was Grell who attacked first.

It was when Grell revved up his scythe that she sent a message via crow to William S. Piers. Ravens and black cats tended to appear wherever she was, raven's because of their dark nature and cats because they were the keepers of the gates to the underworld. But as soon as the crow left her grasp, Gruell's stolen scythe plunged into the chest of the woman who called herself Lady Red.

She decided that it was time to intervene. She jumped down from the chimney that she was currently standing upon and landed behind the group as they all watched the life film of Lady Red.

"Grell" she said his name icily.

The group turned towards her and she noticed how attractive the demon was. Tall, fair skinned with raven colored hair and the red eyes that marked him as a demon. He was dressed as a butler although his fine suit was ripped at the shoulder, he was bleeding but she could tell that he was already healing himself.

The butler smirked slightly at her as she took him and his young master in with her cat eyes. She could tell that he too was taking in her appearance, her dark mocha colored skin and wide if not slightly slanted eyes. She had a longer, western nose as opposed to the shorter one that her mother had. She also wore the red dot of a bindi on her forehead just above her eyebrows. She was taller than the typical Indian woman, at least from what she could recall of her time living in Mumbai. She stood about 67 inches although she was on the willowy side. The demon man was beautiful and Annalise knew that in death as a Reaper as well as due to her exotic beauty that she too was attractive.

"Oh my dear, if it isn't young Annalise. Tell me my dear how is the life of a reaper treating you? It has been what fifty years now?" Grell asked in a sing song voice.

She narrowed her eyes at him but decided to get straight to the point. "You are aware of how many Reaper laws you are breaking?" she asked him. Her accent was strange, with combination of cockney English and the distinctive sound of her Hindi native language.

Grell rolled his eye playfully, "You know that as your superior I do not have to listen nor explain myself to you" he replied.

She smirked slightly now. "This is true, but you will have to answer to William when he arrives"

"Tattletale. Ruining all my fun. In that case looks like I must be off. Tata, Sebas-Chan" he said as he jumped to one of the rooftops.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Ciel asked his butler.

Sebastian smirked his eyes glowing. He understood his Lord's request and turned to Annalise. "You know that his soul is mine. You can do nothing" he growled out.

Annalise nodded. "He is yours by law, demon"

Sebastian nodded before he leaped away and raced after Grell.

"Who are you? Are you another reaper?" Ciel asked.

"My name is Annalise, and yes I too am a reaper"

Ciel nodded. "That is fascinating. So you are saying that Grell is breaking the Reaper laws? What kind of laws?" he inquired.

"You have many questions, young lord. They will be answered soon I am sure. Now if you will excuse me. I have many souls that I need to collect before the night is over"

She curtsied beautifully to the boy revealing the black sari she wore beneath the parchment colored cloak. She turned to walk away but was stopped when the boy called out.

"What did Sebastian mean? That you could take my soul?" Ciel asked.

Annalise could not help the smile that appeared on her pretty face, she turned to the boy and knelt down next to him, only slightly aware of the dirt and grime that she was getting on her the white robes of the novice reaper she wore. "You still have your soul, young lord. If you did not you would simply be a shell. In theory, I could preform the task of a Reaper and take your soul, leading it to salvation. However, you have been marked by a demon, a powerful one no less. According to the laws, your soul is his. I have no right to it and the penalty of taking a soul from a demon is a severe one."

A scream was heard and Annalise and Ciel turned to see Grell partially crushed beneath William S. Piers's foot.

"Grell. You have broken many laws in the past few weeks- having an unregistered scythe, taking the souls before their time" he continued speaking while Annalise zoned out slightly having memorized all the laws that the man was reciting.

At this time, Sebastian had moved over to the two and as Annalise climbed to her feet, placed himself between her and his charge.

"Annalise, thank you for the message" William said walking towards the young Reaper.

She nodded. "It seemed like the right thing to do"

William simply nodded.

Annalise turned to Ciel, Sebastian and half way towards William. "Now, with your permission, I must take my leave. I have fallen behind already" she curtsied one last time before leaping up onto the rooftops of London and running along the roofline until she found her next charge.

Sebastian allowed his mind to wander as he drove the carriage containing Ciel Phantomhive back to the manor. It had been a long time since Sebastian had see a novice reaper before, and he was sure that he had met almost all of the reapers in England. But this girl, this exotic beauty, had only been a reaper for fifty years, making her only around seventy two years old. He couldn't help the smirk on his face, he was at least four times her age. He wondered what had made her decide to be a reaper. It was generally not the lifestyle that a person willingly chooses for themselves. The task of spending endless nights killing the mortals and determining if they were worthy of going to heaven or hell seemed like a tedious job. Sebastian himself much more preferred his stance of being a monster from hell simply intent on collecting his own souls, only representing the Yin of the Yang. To him the world was black and white, there was good like the angels and evil like him. The reapers were somewhere in the middle the gray area that always judged the souls that were obviously not pure of heart and not pure evil.

He closed his crimson eyes for a split second. This Reaper, the beautiful Annalise a combination of the exotic India and the proper Victorian England he was certain he would see her again.


	2. Chapter 2

Sebastian had come to the conclusion long ago that he despised Reapers, his battle with Grel just confirmed it. Reapers were the servants of both the Angels and Demons although they were unaware of the fact that they served the latter. All the souls that the Reapers deemed impure were left to the demons, although typically they were not nearly as savory as those pure souls that had been tainted by a demon further into their lives, like the young Ciev Phantomhive. And yet, the Reapers were one of the most powerful of the otherworldly beings. They were more powerful than the Angels, and the senior Reapers, such as William T. Pears were on par with Sebastian when it came to abilities. The soul of a Reaper was trapped in limbo, they would never pass on, the soul would neither ascend to heaven or fall into hell.

These thoughts continued running through his mind as he preformed the tasks that his Lord had given to him. Sebastian had to admit that when working for the Phantomhive boy, he did feel a bit like a slave the same way that a Reaper was, but in the long run he would get his reward.

"What are you thinking about?" Ciel said as Sebastian entered his office.

"Today's snack and tea will consist of Earl Gray with a chocolate ganache." Sebastian said ignoring his master's question.

"You heard me, Sebastian." Ciel stated looking at him cooly.

Sebastian sighed, mentally kicking himself for making the deal to never lie to the boy. "I was thinking about our encounter with the Reapers a fortnight ago."

"Yes. We ended up getting lucky that the female Reaper appeared. Quite fetching wasn't she?" Ciel asked.

Sebastian snorted in a very ungentlemanly manner. "There is nothing attractive about a Reaper. Even her."

"She does have lovely eyes." Ciel hinted.

Sebastian sighed. Her cat eyes with the silted pupils did entice him. That kind of mark on a Reaper was something that he admitted was a pleasant surprise, unlike Grel's shark like teeth. The only reason that Sebastian liked the way that the Reaper's eyes looked was because he did indeed love cats.

Sebastian sighed. "It is a rather attractive feature." he admitted.

Ciel smirked.

"What are you smirking about, Young Lord?" Sebastian inquired.

"Nothing. Now please, I have work to do. You are dismissed." Ciel replied.

Sebastian smirked and placing his hand over his chest, bowed to the boy "Yes, my Lord."

Annalise was once again walking down the streets of London, her mind wandering back to the events that had happened with the Demon and Grel. She had instantly recognized the Phantomhive boy. But then again who wouldn't recognize the boy who watched his home burn down, not seeing her swoop in and take his parents from him. She remembered the look of sheer terror that he had in his sapphire eyes, the way that the flames reflected in his eyes as he watched his home be consumed, becoming an inferno. She knew that the boy didn't see her, it wasn't until he was marked by Sebastian that he was able to see Demons and Reapers like herself. The boy had changed, his beautiful blue eyes had grown cold. The pact that he made with Sebastian was visible to her through his eyepatch.

_It__'__s a good trick_ she thought to herself _the average person would simply assume that he had lost or injured his eye the night of the fire. Ciel must have been desperate to agree to have the seal placed on his eye, the more visible the pact the stronger the bond. _

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost passed the home of Madame Katerina Saratova, a woman who had migrated to London from Russia three years prior. She entered through the bedroom to see the woman standing on top of a chair, a rope tied around her neck. She looked at the scroll she carried, _Suicide_.

Annalise sighed. There was no way that she could save this woman's soul. The Reaper society followed the laws of the Catholic church, believing that suicide automatically sent the woman to hell. Annalise also knew what she had to do.

She stepped into the room and kicked the chair out from under the woman's feet before driving her scythe into her. The woman's life appeared before her. The image of her immigrating to London, her husband leaving on business in Russia. Leaving her alone for weeks at a time. The night she realized that she was pregnant, and had a still born child. She was so overcome with grief that she decided that ending her own life was the only thing that she could do. Annalise felt a tear run lightly down her cheek. This woman was going to hell due to the cruel fate dealt to her by a God that Annalise herself did not believe in.

"Madame." Annalise said as she removed the sword from the woman's chest.

She looked at Annalise, her face slowly changing color as she gasped for breath, her slippered feet dancing a terrifying dance.

"I will give you a choice. Continue living, you are in grieving. You have a chance to begin your life again. Or you may die, however I have to send you to the pits of hell. Your soul will be damned for an eternity unless a Demon chooses to eat it."

The woman's soul spoke through her damaged body. "Send me to hell."

Annalise nodded before removing the sword and walking away. Allowing the woman to die the death of a suicide. Tears rolled down her mocha colored cheeks as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, she stopped on top of a metal beam that would eventually be a part of London Bridge and looked down into the murky river. She needed to compose herself before she continued her work for the night. She opened her scroll and looked at the names of the mortals who's lives would be ending soon. Reading the next name and sliding her hand across her eyes to remove the evidence of tears, she continued on her journey.

Her shift ended at sunrise when she reappeared in her tiny attic apartment. She removed her parchment colored robe and unwrapped her sari from around her slender body. She changed into her sleeping gown and was about to crawl into her bed when a crow knocked on her window. She sighed and walked to the window, pushing the glass open, allowing the bird to hop into her room. She ran a slender finger with fading henna down the bird's head and lightly untied the scroll from around it's foot.

_Report to Houndsworth. _Was all the note said.

Annalise sighed and gave the crow a piece of dried meat. She smiled at the bird and ran her fingers down it's body once more before leaving the window lightly ajar and climbing back into bed.


End file.
